Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

KBE Landscaping Inc. in Garner, NC, to pay 33 employees more than $14,000 in back wages following US Labor Department investigation

GARNER, N.C. -- KBE Landscaping Inc. of Garner has agreed to pay 33 employees $14,651 in back wages following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division that identified violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and record-keeping provisions.

The department’s investigation determined the employer failed to pay employees overtime at time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek, as required by the FLSA. Instead, KBE Landscaping paid overtime only for hours worked beyond 45 in a workweek. The employer also failed to pay employees for time spent transporting equipment from the last job site of the day back to the company’s headquarters. These unpaid hours resulted in additional violations of the FLSA’s overtime requirements. The employer also failed to keep accurate records of hours worked, as required.

“Employers are legally obligated to maintain accurate records and to pay employees for all hours worked, including proper overtime compensation when hours exceed 40 in a workweek,” said Richard Blaylock, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Raleigh District Office. “Other employers should take this investigation as an opportunity to evaluate their own payroll practices and ensure they are paying their employees in compliance with the law. Employees deserve to be paid all the wages they have rightfully earned.”

The employer has agreed to comply with the FLSA in the future; correct the violations identified by this investigation and pay the back wages in full.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. In general, hours worked includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer’s premises or at any other prescribed place of work, from the beginning of the first principal work activity to the end of the last principal activity of the workday. Additionally, the law requires that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.

The department has a smartphone application to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed. Available in English and Spanish, users can track regular work hours, break times and any overtime hours for one or more employers. This new technology is significant because, instead of relying on their employers’ records, workers now can keep their own records. This and other department apps are available at http://www.dol.gov/dol/apps.

The division’s Raleigh office can be reached at 919-790-2742. Information on the FLSA and other wage laws is available by calling the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) and at http://www.dol.gov/whd.

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